I have too many character focus collections... Soundwave is definitely one of them. Optimus Prime is as well, but I'm much more discriminating when it comes to Prime, like I passed on the Combiner Wars Prime for instance. I have somewhat of a Hound and Wheeljack collection budding, so I'm very tempted by their CW releases. Transformers was a lot easier to collect when deluxe class figures were $10-$12, not $15-$18. A few dollars can be the difference in perceived value of a toy and be the deciding factor if it's just a casual purchase or an "investment".

Well, I must say, Sundar's <shudder> cape came off fairly easily with the old boiling-water technique. Unfortunately, it lay ina set of grooves permanently moulded into his armour. Now I just have to make a cape to cover up the grooves.

Well, my last shipment from Matty arrived today, after paying £100 in customs ransom. Tuskador is DAMNED impressive, except for the smears on his tusks, since they put him in his pack too tightly and too soon after painting. The Wraiths are nifty, but I don't like the two-toned eyes. I may repaint those with glow-in-the-dark yellow rave paints at some point.

And the Rotons . . . WOW. They look amazing and imposing, one with the canopy and one without. The Skelcons are neat (they need to do a two-pack of those, though). Main problem I have with the vehicles is the same problem people had with the Wind Raider: strange smears on them. Looks like the factory workers took it in turns to spit on the toys as they went down the assembly line. Definitely going to go over them with a warm, damp paper towel, I think. And I'm so glad they left out the clicking sound. That, and the cannons don't point straight ahead. They didn't place the sockets very well.